Author: maya

Recently being on the receiving end of a lecture in dress codes, I realized the stupidity of codes in our morally starched society. Yes there are codes or rules for everything, how to talk, how to walk, how to live…they are there for the smooth functioning of our society. But why is it that for ladies, their dress become a part of their respectability? Why is that, a street vendor is not expected to be conscious of her dress and an office clerk is supposed to be ? I’m not speaking about neatness, but about the very idea attached with blue collared jobs and associated morality codes.

Maybe it is the limited availability of options for men as far as wardrobe is concerned or maybe the society has always pinned down women into her body and dress is an another means to do that. We do have dress codes according to the situation, but anywhere one will be able to recognize the special focus that is put on a woman’s dressing. No matter how much educated she is or how capable she is, in an office, she has to adhere with the ‘respectability codes’ of the society.

For women there is a finely etched dress codes for every profession. If we are to imagine a woman as a teacher and then as a street vendor, the amount of detailing decreases in the latter. Why is that? For all we think, we will even imagine her as being unconscious about her body, where as the same woman as a teacher will be fully covered. Recently in a conversation with my friend, she confessed that being a teacher is not the same everyday. So much is depended on the dress she wears. If she is in a Saree then all’s well. If in a salwar, there is a noticeable change in the reaction she receives. This conversation is what set my thoughts into motion. Well for all the stiff necked preaching on values and morality, a woman’s value most of the time boils down to superficiality. It is frightening for a woman. Think about it.

INCEPTION, the latest Christopher Nolan’s science fiction starring Leonardo DI Caprio, is everything the movie is acclaimed for! Complex, dreamy, thrilling, awesome action sequences and a mini magnum opus. Nolan took almost 8 years to finish the script and its not a wonder at all considering the simplicity as well as the complexity of the idea that he is about to put forth. Dreams are a daily part of our lives, a mirror into our subconscious; and a far under-rated window into ourselves. We seldom can imagine the amount of information that one’s dreams have, and that is exactly what forms the basis of Nolan’s movies. Dreams encompass the whole life of an individual especially his/her secrets. The subconscious contains not only the emotional,but also those valid information that makes it worthwhile for the dream-stealers.

Nolan began from an idea of people sharing dreams, where in one of them projects his subconscious and allows entry into it for others.This is the crime scene, a virtual world, wherein ideas are stolen or even planted as is called inception.

The movie demands one to watch it again and again, as it itself becomes a code or a mysterious dream. Cracking it leaves you wondering about how marvelous it is and the immense possibilities of the idea, or as it is said in the movie, it leaves you possessed by an idea.

I needn’t comment on the acting as Nolan has chosen stalwarts for most of the roles,but I can’t help putting in a word for Caprio, who has grown as an actor right from TITANIC, though he was around even before that. He has matured beautifully, physically 🙂 as well as histrionically.

The movie ought to be watched for its novelty, and its technological possibilities since there are scenes which I’m sure would leave one open-mouthed. In one word,it is simply AWESOME!

In my horoscope, as my friend’s astrologist father once said, there are hints about my bone system being weak.I should have pumped in a lot of calcium, now if milk in the tea accounts for calcium intake then I’m not being wholly irresponsible. It all began with a single laugh.Yes,once I was with my friends and upon laughing at a slapstick comedy I realized something was wrong with my jaw. Momentous freezing of jawline,went unnoticed for some time. Then it hit me, I’m gonna end up with a laughing/smirking expression forever if I’m not gonna loosen my jaw.Upon a friend’s suggestion I went to consult an orthopedic,who also happens to be the cutest doctor in town.

Doc ( as I’ll refer him) took my X-rays and told me at the end with the universal sympathetic expression of all doctors (from Bollywood to Hollywood)upon giving their fine verdict based on their medical wisdom, sighed about my ‘stuck’ jaw bone. He advised surgery where giant metal caps will be fixed around my head like a helmet that would prevent my jaw from dropping. If not nothing, it was his verdict that made my jaw drop. That’s when I realized a person can go invisible at will ! I disappeared from the face of medical existence. My jaw became ok after a while..as if a shock therapy of myself lying jaw-dropped inside metal helmets faced down by cute doctors was all it took (it sounded more pathetic than lying open mouthed in front of a cute dentist..although the humiliation scale weighs the same for both!)

Then months later,a freak accident took me back to the Doc. An overnight train journey had left me drained and my sleep-deprived mind wailed like the infant in my near berth. Upon reaching the destination,I clambered down from my upper berth.What happened is still vague, but all I can remember is sitting at the side berth, searching for my upper middle toe of my left leg, frantically! It actually went inside my finger..thats the best I could explain. Mustering all my courage, I pulled at it and there I had my toe back. Hence I went back,a few days later with a swollen-barely-able-to-walk toe. Doc looked at me and complained about me taking care of it myself, creaming his complaint with an icing on my bravery. Anywayz I was back in the X-ray room and this time, he said I had a growth in my left foot and that I would need surgery. I disappeared again to never go back. I’m sure if he could issue a wanted list, I’ll have the honor to be in it. But then, I trusted my body enough to heal itself. Although, my friends say, shock treatment is my best cure for anything. As far as cheating Doc is concerned, I’m sure he will give me plenty of shocks again..if my horoscope is to be believed.

I have always loved animation films ..aka. .cartoons. But somethings are just not as good as the old ones.Tom & Jerry for instance, the newly advanced versions lack the endearing quality of the older version. Hence technology can be helping in many ways, but in some exceptions they just don’t help.

We do have many celluloids on dragons. They have always been mysterious dark creatures, often inhabiting on the evil side. Then came THE DRAGON HEART,which gave them a dignity previously lacking. Recently I saw the animation movie, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON. What struck me first was the marvelous quality of expressions, that were actually various and had been rendered superbly. The movie is quiet commendable and one needn’t think about the technology that worked behind since we have had movies like AVATAR.

The story is endearing,that of the friendship between a rare species of dragon called the Night Fury and a viking boy called Hiccupps. The boy calls the dragon Duflex and yes, it becomes a pet rather than a ferocious dragon. The dragon’s character is sketched with tinges of dogs and cats,so as to make it funny and lovable. But at the same time, it possesses mysterious bravery, dignity and strength, qualities that only dragons have. But refreshingly, there is no master-pet politics coming in. It is simply a friendship between two beings who have their own shortcomings .

I love John Abraham, he is an absolute hunk. But getting to see him talking about how he takes care of his skin ,i.e make/keep it fair,left me a bit perplexed…whatever happened to the Tall Dark Handsome men !! Being an avid reader of romances like Mills & Boons,and being one who looks upon GONE WITH THE WIND as the bible of romance, its difficult to accept this strange male obsession with fair skin. Those heroes in the romances,especially in the books of 80s & 90s and GWTW, which came way before M&B s,all the heroes , even when they belong to the Caucasian whites, are portrayed as having a dark demeanor. Rhett Butler in GWTW is dark compared to his woman.

Back then, darkness was synonymous to masculinity. A virile, masculine male inadvertently had a swarthy or something mysterious about him that both excites and frightens the maidens. He is like that lone dark horse which gallops in the open fields, almost impossible to tame and too hard to possess but too exciting to let go.

Times before 80’s & 90’s, saw dark men completely taken into cruelty as portrayed in literature. The famous Shylock of Shakespeare is dark complexioned, something that indicates his evil nature. The blacks were often portrayed as potential rapists and men fuming with violence, all because of their skin color. But this portrayal also suggests the insecurity that a white man faced when compared himself to a black. The blacks look more virile & masculine compared to a Caucasian white and hence a white dominated world, portrayed blacks hence.

But coming down time,the potential of the evil/darkness to excite and attract was better understood. Hence heroes like Rhett Butler, Heathcliff… came into being. All dark and possibly unconquerable, but in reality they are waiting for their right woman to redeem them. Now that makes it all the more exciting, as Beatles say ” All you need is love ” !

I stick to the paradigm of darkness and virility which also accentuates the femininity and fragility of the woman. And this shift in concepts all boils down to market and our God-given dusky skins. So with all the women chasing fair skin, it leaves only the men. Now ,why should they be spared from the rat-race!

like the sparkle
of that millionth bit of glass
that shredded when you stoned
the glass house of my life
i died in that cataclysmic rupture
but my life lives on,walking the earth
like zombies, entering your dreams
on sleepless nights, when parched throats
are quenched with silly droplets of soothing
sorry s.
The creases on the bed,the night a mere furlong
of love. coupling bodies, but disjointed minds,
for your’s got slitted by my glass
& lay mutilated beneath my broken domes
you were in a hurry, and I fell looking at it
with a smile of relief
the revenge is gona be easy
the revenge is almost half-done!